Hot Startup, Cool Office: Meet Blue State Digital

Blue State Digital is exactly the kind of hot 2008 politics-oriented startup we all assumed would crash and burn in 2009.

Building sites like My.BarackObama.com, a full 30% of its revenues came from political campaigns in 2008.

But while that cash obviously went away this year, revenues are up 40% in 2009, says managing partner Thomas Gensemer.

How?

Lots of new clients, mainly. Along with non-profits like National Geographic and the Red Cross, Blue State Digital now claims corporate clients like Hearst Publishing and Focus Features.

Turns out Blue State Digital's main campaign skill -- breaking up a candidate's supporter list into more usable lists of people like "those who will donate" and "those who will volunteer" -- is as applicable to driving sales as turning out the vote.

Last week, we stopped by Blue State Digital's sleek new offices in New York's Flatiron district. We brought our camera, too.